


The Regular at Cafe LeBlanc

by Celestialmari



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27286177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celestialmari/pseuds/Celestialmari
Summary: Goro Akechi had finally found the perfect cafe to buy his seasonal pumpkin spice lattes from. However, it wasn't just the lonely ambiance and delicious aroma of coffee leading him to Cafe LeBlanc, but rather the enchanting, mysterious barista behind the counter. With very little time left in the month of October, Goro began to worry that his excuse to keep seeing the barista was about to stop working.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46
Collections: 21 plus server halloween event





	The Regular at Cafe LeBlanc

**Author's Note:**

  * For [D_Maradine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/D_Maradine/gifts).



> Prompt: “This guy just can't live without his pumpkin spice latte, huh?”  
> This oneshot was part of the 21+ Akeshuake Discord's Trick or Treat Halloween Event. My prompter was @D_Maradine! I really hope you enjoy it! It's my first time writing Akeshu so I hope I got at least a couple of things right. Either way, I had a wonderful time writing them and hope to write more soon!

There was no doubt that autumn was finally in full swing in Japan. The leaves were a bright shade of scarlet and the air smelled like cinnamon, candy, and, of course, pumpkin spice. However, the truth was that Goro Akechi, or as the world better knew him, the Detective Prince, had no idea what day or even week it was. He was too enthralled by his current obsession, a quiet-looking, but handsome boy with messy hair and a barista apron, who spent his afternoons behind the counter of a dusty little cafe in a lonely alley. 

The all-too-familiar bell of LeBlanc’s door chimed softly as Goro gingerly opened the door, the last rays of sunset brightening up the inside of the cafe. At this point, he had been there too many times, all because of the intriguing boy behind the counter. Though he’d seen him a few dozen times, he hardly knew the guy. His sight left him with a mixture of nervousness, panic, annoyance, and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Nonetheless, he swallowed his emotions and entered the cafe, breathing in the scent of freshly ground coffee and boiling hot curry. Goro sauntered over to the bar and took a seat right in front of his latest infatuation, just like he’d done every day since the cafe’s owner put out a sign with a little snowman holding a coffee cup that reads “Pumpkin Spice Lattes - Available October Only.”

As he settled into his seat, Goro rested his chin on his hand, looking up at the alluring young barista with what he, at least, hoped were seductive eyes. More likely, he instead looked dazed and a little clumsy.

“Good evening, Kurusu,” Goro challenged as though he wasn’t greeting a crush in a cafe, but rather confronting an enemy before a duel. “I’ll have my regular, please.”

“Oh, absolutely, Detective,” the barista replied with a kind and understanding smile. “One pumpkin spice latte coming right up!” The boy then moved to the coffee machine with much more grace than could ever be necessary in such an unkempt cafe, expertly forming the drink as though he’d done it since birth. Goro watched him closely, wondering for a moment what other kinds of things the boy could do with his hands, and fantasizing about running his hands through the inky rat’s nest of hair on the boy’s head.

As the barista continued to work on Goro’s latte, the bell above LeBlanc’s door once again chimed, the soft and gentle sound soon followed by a rush of cacophonous footsteps as a familiar group of teenagers rambunctiously entered the hidden cafe. The loudest among the group was a boy with dyed yellow hair and a demeanor that Goro could only describe as incredulously moronic. 

“Yo, what’s up Akira, my man?” the dandelion-haired boy exclaimed, practically diving into one of the dining booths as though the quaint little cafe was his own house. The others soon followed, each greeting the gorgeous barista behind the counter before settling into their seats.

“Hello,” The soft-spoken Akira Kurusu replied with a nod. “Not that you haven’t, but make yourselves at home. Futuba’s upstairs but I’m sure she’ll be coming down any minute now.”

Goro scowled. There weren't a lot of things in the world he despised more than loud noises and rowdy people, but alas it was just another sacrifice he would have to put up with for his not so subtle crush. Plus, he was certain they would leave eventually, and he’d be alone again in the cafe with Akira, like every other day this month.

Efficient as ever, Akira placed the carefully finished pumpkin spice latte in front of Goro, in a to-go coffee cup just like Goro always asked for. The drink was pleasantly warm to the touch and smelled strongly of cinnamon, pumpkin, and other autumn spices. Goro’s nose crinkled before he could stop it but he covered it quickly with a smile of content and a forced “yum.”

“Thank you very much, Kurusu,” Goro said pensively, gently lifting the coffee cup to his lips and taking a tiny sip, trying as hard as he possibly could to hold back a grimace at the pumpkin flavor. 

“Happy to,” Akira replied with a wink, his expression mischievous, but pleased. Goro wondered if he had noticed his brief look of disgust. If so, the barista showed no sign of it.

It’s not that the latte was made incorrectly or without fresh ingredients. In fact, Goro was sure that it was the best pumpkin spice latte he’d ever had. It was that at his very core, Goro Akechi, #1 LeBlanc Pumpkin Spice Latte customer, absolutely abhorred the taste of pumpkin spice, and only ordered it every single day throughout the month of October because he needed an excuse to see the drop-dead gorgeous barista behind the counter. While Goro Akechi may be the Detective Prince, known for being an intellectual genius, he could also be very, very stupid.

After a couple of minutes, a girl came running down the stairs leading up to the mysterious second floor of the cafe. In her hands, she held a familiar black cat wearing a tiny witch’s hat on its head and a look of sheer annoyance on its adorable little face. Usually, the cat followed Akira everywhere he went, often sitting on the stool all the way on the left side of the coffee bar. It struck Goro as unacceptable that he hadn’t noticed that the cat was missing before, the thought leaving him vividly aware that his perception and judgment were skewed around Akira Kurusu.

The girl, who Goro easily deduced was the “Futaba” Akira had mentioned earlier, was likewise dressed in a matching witch’s hat, which had an orange ribbon to go alongside her hair of the same shade. It was then that Goro realized that he had been so distracted by the beautiful barista and the repugnant scent of pumpkin spice that he hadn’t noticed the extremely odd outfits the group had come in with. 

Taking another look, he realized that the brash, yellow-haired boy, who he gathered from the group’s never-ending conversation was known as Ryuji, was actually dressed head to toe in a skeleton bodysuit, one of those dollar store skull masks hanging idly from his neck. Next to him, was a girl with big blonde pigtails, dressed as some sort of cat, only bright red. For a moment, Goro considered that she was perhaps trying to play off of Akira’s love of cats, even going so far as to contemplate dressing up as one himself, albeit briefly.

On the other side of the booth was a very tall boy with dark blue hair and a detailed Kitsune costume, which was almost too close to another cat costume to satiate Goro’s baseless jealousy. Standing idly near the table, were the last two members of the group, a dainty-looking girl dressed as some sort of musketeer and another girl dressed as a biker chick, an outfit that contrasted greatly with her reserved demeanor.

Futaba quickly slipped into the booth next to the Kitsune, greeting him as Yusuke. The whole group seemed comedically squished into the tiny booth inside of the tiny cafe, but were determined to sit there anyway, no matter how much Goro didn’t want them there. 

“Why’s everyone dressed up?” Goro asked casually, his eyes already gazing back at Akira who was wiping down the coffee machines and putting away spices. 

“What do you mean why is everyone dressed up?” To Goro’s surprise, Akira actually laughed. It was a much more powerful sound than he expected, reverberating through the small room. “It’s October 31st.”

If Goro had been drinking his latte like he was supposed to, he probably would have spit it out. Instead, he took out his phone to see if what Akira was saying was true, watching in horror as his screen read back to him the day’s date: October 31st, AKA Halloween. A wave of panic swept over Goro as he realized that his month of chance had come and gone. The store would soon stop selling pumpkin spice lattes, meaning that his excuse to keep coming here was about to be gone too. What would he do now? Maybe, LeBlanc would start selling peppermint hot chocolates or eggnog lattes or some other specialty drink he could pretend to love, but would the same lie work twice when it barely worked once?

“Oh,” Goro practically whispered, the word falling out of his mouth in complete dejection. The wave of depression around him was so immense that even the group of teenagers who had been loudly chatting amongst themselves and largely ignoring him, noticed.

“Geez man, you must really hate Halloween, huh?” Ryuji exclaimed with a snicker, hopping out of his spot in the booth to go sit next to Goro at the bar. “At least your detective costume rocks.”

“Actually that’s his normal outfit,” Akira stated matter of factly, still wiping down some leftover dishes in the cafe’s small kitchen sink. “He’s a regular.” The hint of playfulness in the word “regular” sent little nervous ba-dumps through Goro’s body. 

“You’re Goro Akechi, aren’t you?” stated the girl in the biker outfit. “I recognize you from the TV.”

“Y-yes,” Goro replied, his Detective Prince persona falling back into place. The only person he ever let his guard down around was Akira and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let anyone else see him without his figurative mask. “You caught me.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Where are my manners?” the girl quickly responded. “My name is Makoto Nijima.” Makoto then moved to point out the rest of the group, revealing the dainty girl in the musketeer outfit to be Haru and the girl in the red cat suit to be Ann.

“Oh, you’re a celebrity, huh?” Ryuji interjected, swinging his arm around Goro’s shoulder. “Do you know any famous girls? Think you could get me their number?”

Before Goro could respond, Ann grabbed Ryuji by the collar and dragged him back to the dining booth with the others. “Sorry about him,” she stated hastily, still not letting Ryuji go. 

“Are you doing anything for tonight?” Akira suddenly asked, untying his apron. For a second Goro was unable to answer, too focused on Akira’s fingers delicately untangling the green strings and the reveal of a gray sleeveless turtleneck underneath his apron. “Akechi?”

“O-Oh!” Goro blinked in surprise. “Tonight? Yes, I have something planned. Of course.” That was a lie. Goro Akechi didn’t have anything planned for that night other than work, but he panicked, not wanting Akira to think he was some sort of antisocial loner even if that’s exactly what he was.

“Ok,” Akira replied nonchalantly. Although for a moment Goro thought he heard a twinge of disappointment in the word. “I guess there’s always next time. I’m really sorry but it’s actually closing time.” 

He reached over to the coat rack by the door to the cafe, grabbing a long, stylish, black coat, what looked to be a white mask with black detailing, and a pair of bright red gloves. Goro watched quietly as Akira slipped on the coat and gloves, removing his glasses to replace them with the mask. The transformation between the quiet but graceful barista to what could only be described as a gentleman thief was almost instantaneous, forcing Goro to realize that there was much more to this quiet boy than meets the eye.

“Of course.” Goro said calmly. “Thank you for the coffee. I’d best be on my way.” After a moment, he picked up his still full pumpkin spice latte and walked towards the door. “Happy Halloween, Kurusu.”

Akira smiled, a cocky grin so full of confidence and charisma that it made Goro a little weak in the knees. “See you tomorrow, Akechi.”

With that, Goro waved politely at the group of teenagers and slipped out of the dusty, old, lonely cafe and into the city streets, not walking even four steps before tossing his untouched pumpkin spice latte directly into the first garbage can he saw. The cup landed with a solid thump right on top of thirty other completely full cups of pumpkin spice latte. All thirty, now thirty-one, cups of proof of Goro’s obsession lying there like beacons of his failures. No matter how much Goro Akechi obsessed over Akira Kurusu, he could never admit it, and he could never love the taste of pumpkin spice. With a grimace, Goro walked off into the night, already plotting on how the hell he was going to come back tomorrow. 

Back at LeBlanc, a shocked Ryuji after hearing that Goro Akechi had come into the cafe every single day of October and ordered a pumpkin spice latte exclaimed, “This guy just can't live without his pumpkin spice latte, huh?”

***

To Goro Akechi’s immense annoyance, Akira was absolutely right when he said “see you tomorrow.” It was November 1st, and right outside LeBlanc’s door stood Goro, ready to pretend that the eggnog lattes advertised by the brand new snowman sign outside were, of course, his all-time favorite drink. When Goro finally swallowed his pride enough to open the door to the cafe, Akira was already there waiting for him.

“Good afternoon, Akechi,” Akira chimed, an impish smile on his face. “I have a new drink for you now that pumpkin spice season is over. I think you’re really going to like it.” He placed a real coffee cup on the counter, heat and steam visibly radiating off of it. 

Cautiously, Goro walked over to the counter and the cup, sitting down in front of it. “No to-go cup?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t think you actually like to-go cups,” Akira replied.

“And what makes you say that?” Goro brought the ceramic coffee cup up to his lips, greatly enjoying the smell that reached his nostrils before taking a sip. The taste was not only very familiar and very pleasant, but it happened to be one of Goro’s favorite flavors in the entire world. An uncharacteristic, truly happy smile broke onto his face, right through the mask he tried so hard to keep in place all this time. “It’s just plain black coffee. My favorite.”

“I knew it.” Akira laughed, “You were faking your love of pumpkin spice lattes, weren’t you?”

“How dare you accuse me of something like that.” Goro took another sip of his coffee, reveling in the bitter flavor of the warm beverage. How anyone could ever like sweet things was an unsolvable mystery to him. “Be careful who you’re talking to, Kurusu.”

“I saw the garbage can filled with thirty-one full pumpkin spice lattes, Akechi,” Akira retorted before rummaging for something underneath the bar. “How could I not find out? None of our other regular customers even order lattes.”

“Kurusu,” Goro began, “If I hate pumpkin spice lattes as much as you claim, then why did I keep coming here every day for them?” He rested his head on his hands for a moment, looking up at Akira’s bright eyes, eyes that could see through any wall or mask Goro tried to put up. 

“I have a theory,” Akira replied, slipping a folded up napkin out from under the bar. He took Goro’s hand in both of his, placing the crumpled napkin against his palm. “I think you came to see me.” 

Hastily, Goro snatched his hand away from the barista, feeling a spark of electricity run through his veins. He paused, hesitantly considering his next move, refusing to meet the eyes of the boy he so desired. After a moment, he unfolded the napkin he was given. On it, in dark black ink, was Akira’s phone number. Goro’s mind raced, completely unable to process any of the information in front of him. Why was Akira giving him his phone number? Why had he held his hand like that? How on earth was he going to get out of this? He couldn’t lie about the pumpkin spice lattes anymore, but maybe he could admit that Akira’s cup of coffee was the best he’d ever had. 

“Akechi,” Akira whispered, forcing Goro out of his internal monologue, his lips suddenly close to Goro’s ear as he leaned over the counter, “I like you, too.”

“Oh,” Goro voiced in shock, unable to form any other words with the sensation of Akira’s whisper still reverberating throughout his body at an alarming speed. “Okay.”

Akira laughed, that wonderful sound once again filling up the little, empty cafe. Goro Akechi had no idea where things would go from here, but he did know that he loved hearing that laugh so much that it scared him. He knew that there was something dangerous about falling for Akira Kurusu, something so powerful and explosive that it excited him, but also terrified him to his very core. Before that moment, Goro believed that it was impossible for him to admit his feelings for the quiet, messy-haired barista before him, but yet, somehow, things had worked out exactly how he had planned. Well, except for the fact that Akira caught him and Goro never really admitted anything. At least, with words.

“Since you missed the Halloween party last night,” Akira started, smirking, “How about you and I have our own? I can close the cafe right now if you’d like.”

“I don’t have a costume,” Goro replied playfully. “Plus, this is a little short notice.”

“You don’t need one,” Akira retorted, walking out from behind the counter and over to where Goro was seated, “Like Ryuji said yesterday, your everyday detective outfit already works just fine.”

“Ha ha,” Goro responded, taking another sip of his coffee. “And what are you going to be?”

“Same as I was yesterday,” Akira replied, taking Goro’s hand once again. “A thief who steals hearts.”


End file.
